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Judge Claude Frollo
Judge Claude Frollo is the main antagonist of Disney's 1996animated feature film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He is a ruthless Parisian justice minister who, after a series of sensitive circumstances, becomes the begrudged caretaker of the deformed Quasimodo. In addition to his political power, Frollo is a religious zealot with an intolerance to sinners. He believes Romani people (or "gypsies", as he refers to them) to be the most heinous of all malefactors, and therefor dedicates twenty years of his life to eradicating them. Frollo's self-imposed mission drives him to perform inhumane acts of violence, all the while using his loyalty to God as justification. With a majority of the film's heavy thematic elements being directly tied to Frollo's story arc — such as religion, lust, and genocide — he is widely considered to be amongst the darkest Disney villains of all time. Background Personality Judge Claude Frollo is a rather complex person. A religious extremist and a dogmatist, Frollo is convinced that all his actions are justified because they are God's will, though he is a cruel and arrogant government official who uses his place in power to meet his own extreme ends, even employing common thugs to enforce his interpretation of God's will while posing as "soldiers." This makes him feared and reviled throughout the city. Frollo is especially determined to eliminate the gypsies scattered throughout Paris as their indulgence in "witchcraft and sorcery" is infectious to those around them, according to him, which therefore makes him genocidal. He is also shown to have sadism, as other than his desire to persecute sinners, he also briefly smiles when the previous Captain of the Guard prior to his promoting Phoebus to the rank was heard being whipped for having failed him. However, despite being highly religious, he turns out to be unwillingly blasphemous calling religious people such as the Archdeacon "fools" (likely because, amid his pride, he thinks himself superior and even more religious than the Archdeacon himself), and once attempting to commit murder within the city's beloved cathedral (because he thought the said murder was God's will and that it was thus completely justified to execute God's will inside His house). Interestingly, despite his dark methods, Frollo is a somewhat forgiving person. This was evident in including "Forgiveness" as the representing word for the letter "F" during Quasimodo's reading lesson and how he forgave Quasimodo for attempting to deceive him. Another example is how the gargoyles seemed to be aware of Frollo's merciful side, as they suggested Frollo was more likely to forgive Quasimodo for his defiance than to permit him to attend the Festival of Fools. Interestingly, while most Disney villains know that what they do is wrong (and either does not care or take pride from this), Frollo actually believes that he is a good person, making him something of a three-dimensional character as well. He repeatedly refuses to find fault within himself and is quite self-righteous, declaring himself much purer than "the common vulgar, weak, licentious crowd" and to be above the biblical doctrine that all men are equally sinful. He believes that everything he does is in the name of God, even as he attacks the cathedral of Notre Dame for the sake of catching, arresting, and executing one gypsy woman. However, at the end of "Hellfire", he does beg God for mercy on Esmeralda for what he plans to do with her and mercy on him for his plans, and part of his sparing Quasimodo was as penance for his killing his mother, so he is capable of some form of guilt in his own twisted way. On a similar note, the "mea culpa" chorus of Hellfire implies that he does to some level recognize that he was at fault, and implies a more self-loathing aspect to his nature. Apparently, Frollo used to be celibate. However, he comes to lust for the beautiful Esmeralda, but after a moment of indecision ends up blaming his own lust for her on witchcraft and the devil rather than accept that he himself is prone to sin as everyone else. His lust drives him murderously insane, which ultimately proves to be his downfall when he pushes Quasimodo too far by almost killing Esmeralda. When he believes his lust for Esmeralda to be turning him to sin, he is partially right because it's this that makes him murderous and unfair towards the other people, arresting two families and attempting to kill one just because they wouldn't give him Esmeralda. He is also very cruel to Quasimodo. He refuses to allow the hunchback to experience freedom and forces the young man to call him "master", and allows him to be humiliated in public without even bothering to help him, as punishment for disobeying him. Additionally, during Frollo's outbursts, Quasimodo tries to move away from him, implying that Frollo has physically abused Quasimodo in the past. Despite all that, Frollo has traces of humanity in his relationship with Quasimodo as he spent his free time eating lunch and dinner with his adoptive son, as well as his willingness to educate him, employ him as Notre Dame's bell ringer, provide for him and even gave him the means to spend time on his hobbies. He also seems to be somewhat down-to-earth, believing that stone cannot talk and attempt to get Quasimodo to believe this as well: :: ''Frollo: Dear boy... whomever are you talking to?'' Quasimodo: My... friends. Frollo: I see. And what are your friends made of, Quasimodo? Quasimodo: Stone. Frollo: Can stone talk? Quasimodo: No, it can't. Frollo: That's right. You're a smart lad. Furthermore, Frollo appears to be a rather stoic man, always appearing cool and collected, and only shows fear when Quasimodo overpowers him after he prepares to kill him and when he is about to fall to his death; he also shows visible fear when the many eyes of Notre Dame glare at him for murdering an innocent woman upon the cathedral steps. He rarely exhibits humor, and whenever he does, it's dry and black. Despite his single-mindedness, Frollo's true weakness was that he couldn't feel or understand love for another person even when he tried. It was this cruelty and abusiveness that drove Quasimodo to have very little loyalty towards his master and protected the only person who ever showed the hunchback kindness from him. Nevertheless, Frollo did genuinely try to be a good father to Quasimodo while raising him, but ultimately he proved to be too full of hate and pride to be a caring parent. Frollo also appears to have little to no sense of personalization, despite Quasimodo being the only person he refers to by name as he refers to his soldiers as "You men!" as they prepare to attack the cathedral and usually refers to Esmeralda as "the gypsy girl". Frollo also appears to have a soft spot for animals, as he displayed a great bond with his horse and ordered his men to not harm him when Phoebus rode him in order to escape Frollo's wrath.' Physical appearance Frollo is an aging man defined by his wrinkled, care-worn face and thinning white hair. As the Minister of Justice and a high-ranking public official, Frollo is most frequently dressed in a black and purple robe, a purple jumpsuit, a purple and black striped hat with a red tassel attached to the bottom, and black shoulder pads with red stripes. He also wears rings on his fingers, two on the right and one on the left, with the jewels colored blue, red, and green. Abilities Despite his frail appearance, Frollo possesses a considerable amount of strength, shown by the muscle in his arms and how he is able to hold his own against Quasimodo, who despite being smaller than Frollo in terms of stature is larger in terms of built and has displayed signs of superhuman strength. Role in the film At the film's beginning, Frollo ambushes a group of gypsies entering Paris illegally and upon seeing one of them with what he thought to be a bundle hiding stolen goods, he chases the panicked latter to Notre Dame where he kills her by kicking her down the steps of the cathedral, thus breaking her skull. However, he discovers that her "stolen goods" were actually her deformed baby son. Believing the child to be an unholy demon, Frollo prepares to drop him down a nearby well, but stops at the intervention of the Archdeacon, who reprimands Frollo for killing an innocent woman. Frollo tried to justify his act but the Archdeacon rejected his explanation and Frollo became scared after realizing he was watched by the eyes of Notre Dame. The Archdemon tells him that the only way to atone for his sin is to raise the boy as his own son, to which he begrudgingly agrees after seeing the stone statues of saints decorating Notre Dame apparently turn their eyes on him. However, he only agrees to save what is left of his soul and because the child may come in handy someday. Frollo names him "Quasimodo" (literally "Half-formed"), and raises him in the cathedral, hidden from the outside world, constantly teaching him that he would be considered an ugly and hideous monster by the cruel outside world. Twenty years later, Frollo summons the gallant soldier Phoebus from the war to be his new Captain of the Guard, since the last one was "a bit of a disappointment" to him and was being tortured to death in the Palace of Justice. He hopes to clear the gypsies out of Paris with Phoebus' help and go to Heaven when he dies. While attending the annual Festival of Fools, Frollo discovers a gypsy dancer named Esmeralda, who attracts him with her beauty. Shortly afterwards, he learns that Quasimodo left the bell tower against his orders, entered the Festival and was crowned the King of Fools. Frollo refuses to help Quasimodo when the latter is being publicly assaulted and humiliated by the crowd in order to teach him a lesson, even when the hunchback implores for his help; he even delays Phoebus' request to stop it. He is enraged when Esmeralda openly defies him for his cruelty and frees Quasimodo, and in retaliation, he orders her arrested. After witnessing the gypsy vanish in a cloud, he rashly concludes her to be a witch and immediately orders Phoebus to bring her in alive. With the crowd's help, she escapes into the Cathedral, where he finds her speaking with Phoebus and orders them to force her out of the Cathedral, but is rebuffed by the Archdeacon, who orders them all out. Frollo pretends to leave before catching Esmerelda by surprise and laying hands on her; this reveals to her that he has lustful feelings for her. He then confronts her and tells her that he will arrest her if she dares to leave. However, she ventures up to the bell tower and is reunited with Quasimodo, who helps her escape. That evening in the Palace of Justice, Frollo is disturbed by his attraction to Esmeralda which he believes is turning him to sin and pleads the Virgin Mary to protect him from her "spell" and to let Esmeralda taste the fires of Hell if she will not be his. Upon learning from a Brutish Guard that she has escaped the cathedral, he is enraged and, with his guards the next day, begins a ruthless manhunt to find her, burning down the houses of anyone suspected of sheltering gypsies and interrogating gypsies who were captured. He later attempts to execute an innocent family whom he suspects of interacting with gypsies by burning down their house with them still inside, but an appalled Phoebus finally rebels against him and rescues the family. Frollo declared Phoebus a traitor and attempts to execute him, but a disguised Esmeralda slings a stone at his horse, throwing him off and buying Phoebus time to escape. The guards fire arrows at Phoebus, resulting in him being wounded and falling into a lake, and continue firing until Frollo stops them. They proceed across a bridge to finish the manhunt. Once they leave, the wounded Phoebus is quickly rescued by Esmeralda after being left for dead. Returning to the smoldering city, Frollo is informed that Esmeralda is still at large. He goes to the bell tower, thinking Quasimodo may be responsible for assisting Esmeralda. Upon deducing this is true, Frollo angrily lashes out at his charge, then calmly claims that the Court of Miracles has been found and will be attacked at dawn with one thousand men. A misled Quasimodo accompanies Phoebus to the Court, and Frollo and his henchmen follow and arrest the gypsies. Frollo notices that Phoebus has survived and remarks that he intends to "remedy it". Seeing this, Quasimodo begs him to call off the guards. Frollo refuses and tells them to take the hunchback to the bell tower, making sure he "stays there." In the square, Frollo sentences Esmeralda to death but offers to save her from immolation if she chooses him. She refuses to become Frollo's mistress, spitting in his face in disgust, and is prepared to be burned at the stake, but Quasimodo rescues her after she passes out and brings her to the cathedral. Frollo orders his soldiers to pick up a large beam, which was dropped from the cathedral and nearly crushed him, and to use it to break down Notre Dame's doors. Enraged at this defilement and attack on the beloved cathedral, as well as tired of Frollo's tyranny and rallied by Phoebus, the citizens of Paris arm themselves, free the gypsies, and rebel against Frollo's guards. Though Notre Dame's ancient doors manage to hold for a while, they eventually break down. Frollo gains entry to into the cathedral, directly defying the Archdeacon when he claims he will not tolerate murder in the church. Before proceeding, Frollo throws him down a flight of stairs and locks him out of the bell tower so he could not follow and interfere. He then confronts Quasimodo in the bell tower, falsely consoles him for Esmeralda's apparent death, and attempts to kill him with a dagger, resulting in a brief yet violent struggle in which Quasimodo overpowers Frollo, wrenching the dagger from his grip and throwing him to the floor. Quasimodo then hovers over Frollo, who momentarily abandons his pride and begs Quasimodo to listen to him, but Quasimodo refuses and then angrily yells out that all his life Frollo has told that the world is a dark, cruel place, and that he now sees that people who are just like Frollo are the only reason why. Just then, Esmeralda awakens, alive, and Quasimodo rushes her to safety. Infuriated, Frollo draws his sword and chases them onto a balcony overlooking the city, slashing at them with his sword with Quasimodo unable to fight back due to protecting Esmeralda. In his rage, Frollo finally admits that he killed Quasimodo's motherwhen she attempted to save her baby, much to Quasimodo's shock and horror. As such, Frollo decides to kill Quasimodo himself like he "should have done" 20 years ago. Frollo attempts to use his cape to throw Quasimodo off the balcony, but the hunchback manages to hold on and ends up pulling Frollo along with him, unwilling to let him fall. Frollo dangles momentarily for his life, but he is soon able to swing and grab onto a gargoyle attached to the wall. Rather than escaping to safety, he instead raises himself in a perfect position to kill Esmeralda (who is attempting to save Quasimodo), his eyes and teeth are shown in a fire-like color, laughing wickedly as he delivers his last blasphemy ("And He shall smite the wicked, and plunge them into the fiery pit!"). However, just as Frollo raises his sword, the gargoyle starts to break off (possibly due to an act of divine intervention and/or earlier damage from Frollo's sword) and he falls, clinging on for dear life and dropping his sword. In his last moments, the gargoyle's face comes to life and demonically roars at him, terrifying the latter. This was a very clear sign that Frollo was both too dangerous and too blasphemous to remain alive (which clearly indicates that this was actaully a divine intervention). The gargoyle breaks off completely and angrily sends the screaming Frollo falling into a vast lake of molten metal that had been created by Quasimodo and the gargoyles, where he meets his death after coming into physical contact, resulting in a fiery explosion, symbolically sending him to hell for his sins. With Frollo gone, his tyranny has finally ended and his soldiers are defeated and surrender to the French army. Relationships Quasimodo Frollo first encountered Quasimodo as a baby, after he killed his mother. For the murder, he had to take Quasimodo and raise him as his own. Frollo genuinely poses as an intimidating, yet oddly influential, father figure, for the next twenty years. However, when Quasimodo is twenty years old, Frollo allows him to be tortured after he attempts to sneak out of the bell tower for which he is forbidden to leave. He is also enraged when Quasimodo helps Esmeralda escape him and sneaks down to the Court of Miracles, where the gypsies are hiding. Frollo applauds him for finally proving useful to him before forcing him back to the bell tower. At this point, Quasimodo has come to hate Frollo and will help anyone who helps him, such as Esmeralda. After Quasimodo goes against him in a battle, Frollo's hatred for him reaches its limits and Frollo attempts to kill him like he "should have done" twenty years ago. However, this ultimately leads to Frollo's own demise. Esmeralda : “Frollo:' "I was just imagining a rope around that beautiful neck."'' Esmeralda: "I know what you were imagining!”'' : ―Frollo and Esmeralda Frollo is Esmeralda's archenemy and was a serious threat to her life. Despite his power and authority, she was not afraid of him and rebelled against his rules. Not only was she even brave enough to publicly humiliate and insult him at the Festival of Fools (also intriguing him a bit as well), she even had the courage to spit in his face before he attempted to execute her. Of note, when Esmeralda and Frollo first meet, she playfully brings his face close to hers and kisses the tip of his nose before pulling his hat down, as well as performing a seductive dance. This, however, leads to Frollo becoming unhealthily obsessed with her, becoming the first link in the chain that leads to Paris' destruction and Frollo's ultimate demise. While hating Esmeralda for being a gypsy and humiliating and evading him, Frollo had a powerful feeling of lust for her, so powerful he was desperate to find her and have her to himself, even if that meant burning Paris to the ground. Archdeacon : “''This time, you will not interfere.” : ―Frollo, to the Archdeacon Although Frollo and the Archdeacon worked together in the church, their hatred for each other was obvious. It was the Archdeacon who insisted that Frollo raises Quasimodo to atone for the murder of the latter's mother. Twenty years later, the Archdeacon also prevented him from capturing Esmeralda. Finally, Frollo became tired of the Archdeacon's meddling and threw him down a flight of stairs when he attempted to order Frollo to call off the assault on Notre Dame. Differences from the source material * Frollo in Victor Hugo's original The Hunchback of Notre Dame novel was far more compassionate, caring, and tragic, as well as considerably less villainous, and significantly younger in age (about 36 in most of the story). * As the archdeacon of Notre Dame in the original novel, he took Quasimodo in willingly as his own son when his mother abandoned him in the book (instead of Frollo unwillingly killing her himself like in the Disney film). * He named him after Quasimodo Sunday instead of his disfigurement. * He helped Quasimodo develop some sort of sign language after the latter became deaf from being the bell ringer. * Frollo in the novel only becomes the villain when Esmeralda enters the picture. His lust drives him insane much like in the Disney version. The only difference at this point was that Frollo actually succeeded at killing Esmeralda just before Quasimodo throws him off of Notre Dame, killing him. Trivia * Frollo is considered as one of the (if not the) darkest and most evil of all of Disney´s villains, even more than his original counterpart. In fact, Frollo was meant by the company to be as evil and as vile as possible, in an attempt to avert the trope "Evil is Cool," common to many Disney villains. * When Frollo falls to his death, it clearly meant to symbolize that his soul is now trapped in eternal damnation in the satanic fires of Hell for all eternity as punishment for his actions and ending his tyranny once and for all. Ironically, his final words in life were "And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit." ** In fact, Frollo has committed many crimes in the film, and they include the following: **# Assault (Archdeacon) **# Attempted sexual assault (Esmeralda) **# Attempted murder (Phoebus, Esmeralda, Quasimodo, a family of four people) **# Arson (Paris) **# Murder (Quasimodo's mother) **# Torture (His previous Captain of the Guard and Quasimodo) *** Although he also technically was guilty of attempted genocide and searching homes without a warrant, those did not count as crimes back in the time period of the movie (the 15th century), as the concept of human rights, including warranted searches of homes, did not occur until the enlightenment movement in the 17th-18th century and genocide did not formally become a punishable crime until the aftermath of World War II due to the actions of Nazi Germany. * Frollo was voiced by Tony Jay, who also voiced Monsieur D'Arque in Beauty and the Beast. Tony Jay's performance as Monsieur D'Arque is what led the directors of both films to cast him as Frollo. * Frollo's behavior strongly suggests that he is a pyromaniac. * Based on his mannerisms, it is implied that Frollo is ambidextrous. * Frollo represents the deadly sin of lust, as he lusted after Esmeralda. He also represents pride, as he considered himself above all humans and completely flawless (although Hellfire shows him begging God for mercy on both their souls, so he is at least somewhat aware of what he plans is sin). His desire to punish others also represents wrath. * In the novel, Frollo was kind and willingly took Quasimodo in when no one else would and turned into a villain when Esmeralda came into the story. * He seemingly felt guilty for two of his sins: killing Quasimodo's mother and his lust for Esmeralda, though considering his self-righteous personality, he tries without totally believing himself to blame them on external forces such as the Devil, Esmeralda, or even God himself (whom he blames for having made Man weaker than the Devil). As already said, he doesn't fully convince himself with those lies and he still fears for his soul because of those sins, asking the Lord of mercy numerous times. * Intentionally or not, he has ironically committed himself to damn souls rather than save them. His eyes turning yellow when he was about to kill Quasimodo and Esmeralda helps symbolize his total abandonment of serving God. * Judge Claude Frollo become Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's enemy in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle Meets The Hunchback of Notre Dame. * Frollo appears in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventure Series to get revenge on Thomas, Twilight and their friends for defeating and defying him. He also now likes to serve evil and no longer cares about serving religion since he's been brought back to life and abandoned serving God for the sake of doing whatever he wants with his evil plans. * Frollo is considered one of Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's darkest and most evil villains. 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